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Coach Miranda ‘Killa’ Cayabyab earned the moniker early on in her competitive career by the tenacity in which she approached her training and the intensity she brought to the ring. Now retired from Professional Muay Thai, she has put her focus on raising her children and developing her talents as a Coach. But let me start at the beginning to give you a better understanding of why she is so awesome.

In 2004 Miranda found herself in an unhealthy place. Out of shape and overweight, she had lost her confidence. She decided to make a change and found herself in my Cardio Kickboxing Class! Though it was difficult, she loved the it! Miranda dedicated herself to getting back in shape and that’s where it all began!

A year and 40lbs later Miranda decided to take on new challenge, Muay Thai. She overcame her fears and began to love challenge of stepping into the ring. Killa quickly established herself as a legit competitor with a fierce heart within the fight community. Miranda won 3 National Titles as an amateur.

During her amateur career, she took some time off to give birth to her second child Aurora Hope. For most, having a full-time job, 2 children, and training full time as a competitive fighter would be too much. Miranda not only was able successful with all those responsibilities but during this time she also decided to get a Certified CrossFit Trainer. Always looking for new challenges she then decided that she wanted to take her Muay Thai career further and turn professional.

In November, 2013 Miranda made her Professional Muay Thai debut for Lion Fight Promotions. What most don’t know is that she had completely blown out her ACL & PCL just 3 weeks before. Miranda refused to pull out of the Fight. Her determination and skills were on full display that night. Despite her injuries she won a unanimous decision victory. Her family, friends. and team were very proud.

Now she is entering the next stage of her Fitness and Martial Arts journey. Already coaching Fitness Classes for Smash Gyms Milpitas, she will start teaching Muay Thai Fundamentals on Thursdays. Her passion and knowledge for the Art of 8 Limbs will be a great addition to Smash Gyms. We cannot wait for you to try her class!

BIG SMASH announcement! As many of you know, there are many Smashers that have expressed an interest in helping Smash grow. We have been looking at locations all over the Bay Area and have finally secured a location in Milpitas. Details to be announced shortly!

Our very own Lou Noble will be helping to lead this location. We are extremely proud of Lou. Those of you that know Lou, know he is an amazing person off and on the mat. He is family man and a good student and teacher. Since the beginning, Lou has been a great leader in the Smash Family and we know he will continue to make us proud.

We have seen Smash grow from 5 jiu-jitsu guys in a garage to over 600 members, 50 instructors, two locations and 12 programs in 5 years. The amazing support that all the members of the community provide to each other inside and out of the gym has created life-long friendships and incredible success stories. We feel so lucky to be able to dedicate our lives to something that has brought real value to many people.

The launch of Smash #3 is something truly special! Three of the best gyms in the Bay Area are joining forces to create Smash Milpitas. Smash Milpitas will be the combined forces of Smash Gyms, Unlimited MMA, and Milpitas Boxing.

Unlimited MMA was one of the first high quality Martial Arts gyms ever in the Bay Area. Head Coach and Owner Rudi Ott is a highly respected and talented kickboxing coach. Rudi will be spending most of his time at Smash Milpitas but will also be teaching classes at Smash San Jose and Sunnyvale. He is a passionate coach and awesome instructor. Rudi, his students, and staff will bring incredible value to the kickboxing program and fight team at Smash. Their community is full of talented and motivated members and staff. Rudi will be the Smash Gyms Fight Team Coach.

Milpitas Boxing is owned and operated by Tony Gabucan. Tony has quickly built an amazing community at Milpitas Boxing. His fun classes and friendly staff quickly grew to one of the largest gyms in the Bay Area in only four years. Tony, his team of instructors, and his gym have quickly become known as a place for beginner friendly classes with top quality instruction. They have a solid reputation for not only high energy and fun classes but also a very family friendly environment.

As most of you know, in 2014 Cung Le’s Martial Arts joined the Smash Gyms Family. Now with Milpitas Boxing and Unlimited MMA joining Smash Gyms, our social fitness network has become the largest of it’s kind in California. These communities have banded together with plans to create incredible value to our members as well as opportunities to instructors and owners. Smash Gyms’ goal is to create a remarkable social fitness experience for our members, high quality jobs for world-class instructors, and successful small businesses owners.

Smash Gyms will now have well over 1000 people active in the community. All of our members will not only have three Bay Area locations, but also hundreds of excited and friendly new training partners, and dozens of motivated professional instructors.

I’d like to thank all those that have contributed to the growth of Smash. Our members and instructors have worked hard to make our community one that has attracted talented and motivated people from all over. Smash is community of great people working hard to help each other inside and out of the gyms. Thank you all for investing so much effort into the growth of the community and each other. Thank you for believing in us.

One thing that stands out about the Smash Gyms instructors is the professionalism in which they conduct themselves. Anyone who have been involved in martial arts for a long time and traveled around to different schools can attest that this is a quality that is often lacking by many instructors. Check out this short video where Smash Gyms Sunnyvale Head BJJ instructor Michael Jen talks about this subject.

This past Sunday, a small group of Smash Kids Martial Arts students competed in the 2014 Hokka Judo Developmental Tournament. This annual tournament was hosted by the Santa Clara PAL Judo club and designed for novice competitors and training upcoming referees. The Smash Kids did extremely well as they took home 2 gold and 1 bronze.

At our annual end of the year holiday party, a handful of Smash students were recognized for their hard work and increasing skill in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Declan Boyd, Ian Masloff, Tom Lopez, Yane Pènev, and Debbie Sanchez were promoted to blue belt. In addition, Sam Jung and Mike Herrera were promoted to purple belt.

In a big surprise, head BJJ instructor, Michael Jen, was promoted to black belt in judo by his former judo instructor, David Williams. Michael began his training in judo 14 years ago and recently began to train handful of Smash Kids Martial Arts students to compete in the sport. These kids have competed in practically every judo competition in northern California and have been incredibly successful.

Smash Kids Martial Arts students Louie Noble Jr., Jonah Davi,d and Jovina David were both promoted to yellow belt in judo. All the kids have shown great skill as they have medaled in every judo competition they have entered.

Derek and Aaron Jen represented the Smash Gyms Kids Martial Arts Program and competed in the 5th Annual North Bay Judo Developmental Tournament. This was a smaller competition with fewer competitors, so the brothers were put against opponents of higher rank. Aaron placed 1st in his division and Derek placed 2nd in his division. Congratulations to both boys!

The United Grappling Federation (UGF) has gained its well deserved reputation in setting the standard when it comes to hosting professional and punctual in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu tournaments. The Smash Gyms adult BJJ team competed in their first UGF tournament back in 2011 at the San Jose Open and emerged as the 1st place Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Team Champions. Smash Gyms coaches and competitors looked forward to the UGF returning to the Bay Area for another event. As a result, we were extremely pleased when the UGF decided to hold its 2013 Kids International Grappling Championship in San Jose, CA.

On June 22, a handful of students from the Smash Kids Martial Arts program competed in the UGF Kids International Grappling Championship. This competition drew an impressive number of extremely skilled children and teens from all around the country. The Smash kids showed a lot of heart, skill, and determination, earning themselves 3 silver medals.

Smash Gyms BJJ competitor, Doug Ancey, took 1st place and brought home gold at the Jiu-jitsu by the Bay tournament. Held in Alameda, CA, this tournament has consistently grown and become a staple for local BJJ competitors. Doug did a great job in representing Smash Gyms. Winning his matches in a dominating fashion, he finished most of his opponents by submission. Big congratulations!

Last weekend Smash Kids Martial Arts student, Louie Noble Jr., competed in the Santa Clara PAL Judo Invitational. Louie faced some really big and tough opponents in this local event and fought very well. Louie placed 2nd and look home the silver medal!

Then on May 24, Aaron Jen competed in the 2013 Ganesa Cup Judo Open Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia. This international competition hosted competitors from Indonesia, Australia, France, Malaysia, Singapore, and Russia. Aaron represented the USA. The skill level of all the kids the teens was extremely impressive. It was very interesting to see the various styles of judo and how they differed from what Aaron had experienced competing in the USA. The kids in this single elimination competition were grouped only by weight (no age or belt color separation). Aaron came out strong and won all his matches, placing 1st in his division.

Congratulations to both boys on their stellar performances!

Check out the action packed highlights! To watch in HD, change the quality setting when the video begins.

This past Sunday, Louie Noble Jr., Derek Jen, and Aaron Jen competed in the 2013 Cupertino Judo Invitational Tournament. This annual event is one of the larger competitions of the northern California Bay Area and draws many of the top local competitors. Louie and Aaron placed 2nd in their respective divisions and Derek placed 1st! Congrats to all these hard working boys!

Check out the highlights of the event! To watch in HD, change the quality setting on the player once the video begins.